Take 5: Five Things Worth Mentioning Heading Into Fontana

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Can Kurt Busch have another strong showing?

last weekend Kurt Busch turned a lot of heads when he lit up the speed charts in qualifying and then in practice. Busch who was coming off an indefinite suspension which caused him to miss three races wasn’t expected to do much in his first race back. Flash forward to the race and Busch really had the only car that gave Harvick a real fight for the win. Busch wound up finishing 5th on Sunday after a late pit stop didn’t pay dividends.

Busch is in a hole when it comes to the points having missed three races. If Busch plans on making the chase he will have to run very well over the next 22 races if he isn’t able to find a way to win. Quality finishes inside of the top-15 are a great way to help makeup points on some of the drivers that are ahead of him. If Busch is able to string together a couple of months of top-15 runs he will vastly improve his position in the points which will only help him come chase time.